soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2015-10-22 09:18 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2015-10-22 09:18 pm
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
I was kind of afraid to start this book because I was worried I was going in with overinflated expectations because of how much I love Zen Cho's short stories. I did not need to be worried! This book was SO GOOOOOOOOD.
I will say that the book did not start out with its best foot forward imo. It felt a little stilted for the first 10-20 pages. But it quickly got over that and in very short order I was enjoying myself thoroughly.
Zen Cho has described this book as "fluff for postcolonial book nerds" and it's just like....YEAH. It's everything I love about fun hijinks-filled regency-era fiction plus actual attention paid to the racism of the era, without it ever getting heavy-handed. Remember how I was recently saying that what I want in regency romance is basically never to be found? THIS BOOK IS THE BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR. Charming characters and amazing hijinks without ANY of Georgette Heyer's many many problems, plus the very important addition of magic. And also just generally better than Georgette Heyer. I am so delighted.
I was absolutely blown away by our two main characters, too, which is just - omg I love them so much! Zacharias is competent, reserved, works very hard at maintaining a polite facade in public because he needs to, has a lot of very understandable frustrations about his life, and is just such a good person. Prunella on the other hand is the sort of person who is just so serenely confident in her own abilities that she kind of bulldozes her way through problems, and truly competent enough to get away with it, which is a delight to watch in action. They're both AMAZING, and together they are the BEST.
Also there are a lot of spectacular secondary characters. The best, obviously, is Mak Genggang who I love to itty bitty bits. Also I am blown away in paroxysms of delight that AUNT GEORGIANA IS A DRAGON omg, that was just so beautifully done.
In conclusion, I want Zen Cho to write many lots more novels so I can read all of them.
I will say that the book did not start out with its best foot forward imo. It felt a little stilted for the first 10-20 pages. But it quickly got over that and in very short order I was enjoying myself thoroughly.
Zen Cho has described this book as "fluff for postcolonial book nerds" and it's just like....YEAH. It's everything I love about fun hijinks-filled regency-era fiction plus actual attention paid to the racism of the era, without it ever getting heavy-handed. Remember how I was recently saying that what I want in regency romance is basically never to be found? THIS BOOK IS THE BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR. Charming characters and amazing hijinks without ANY of Georgette Heyer's many many problems, plus the very important addition of magic. And also just generally better than Georgette Heyer. I am so delighted.
I was absolutely blown away by our two main characters, too, which is just - omg I love them so much! Zacharias is competent, reserved, works very hard at maintaining a polite facade in public because he needs to, has a lot of very understandable frustrations about his life, and is just such a good person. Prunella on the other hand is the sort of person who is just so serenely confident in her own abilities that she kind of bulldozes her way through problems, and truly competent enough to get away with it, which is a delight to watch in action. They're both AMAZING, and together they are the BEST.
Also there are a lot of spectacular secondary characters. The best, obviously, is Mak Genggang who I love to itty bitty bits. Also I am blown away in paroxysms of delight that AUNT GEORGIANA IS A DRAGON omg, that was just so beautifully done.
In conclusion, I want Zen Cho to write many lots more novels so I can read all of them.
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